By Tatenda Mujeyi
The African Risk Capacity and the Foundation Institut Pasteur de Dakar yesterday signed an MOU aimed at establishing a framework aimed at assisting AU member states in preparedness in dealing with epidemics.
“The African Risk Capacity (ARC) Group and the Fondation Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IP Dakar) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing a collaborative framework to assist African Union Member States to better prepare, plan and respond to epidemics and other high-impact infectious disease outbreaks.” A statement issued by ARC reads.
The MOU will see the two organisations collaborating on the evaluation of AU member states’ preparedness in responding to outbreaks.
“Under the agreement, IP Dakar and ARC Agency will join forces and leverage their individual expertise to support the evaluation of AU member states capacities for epidemiological surveillance, outbreak response, and laboratory diagnostics. This will be beneficial for contingency planning and providing a timely response to disease outbreaks and mitigating outbreak situations.” A statement issued by ARC reads.
The move is set to devise African engineered responses to epidemics in an era the COVID pandemic has heightened the vulnerability of African states in dealing with pandemics.
. “A formalised partnership with IP Dakar through its newly established Center for Africa Resilience to Epidemics will enable us to mutually leverage each agency’s expertise, and that of other stakeholders, to provide a Pan-African approach to build synergies for holistic, timely, and effective early action against identified disease outbreaks.” Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, Director-General of the ARC Group said.
The program was established on the parameters that have traditionally been used by the organisations traditionally in the mitigating of past pandemics like Ebola, Meningitis among other.
“The Outbreaks and Epidemics Programme of the ARC Group was built on its sovereign parametric risk insurance model which has delivered impressive and lifesaving results against drought and tropical cyclone for participating African countries.
“Targeted at 4 diseases of epidemic potential including acute haemorrhagic fevers (Ebola, Marburg, and Lassa fever), and Meningitis, it aims to equip AU member states with an array epidemic preparedness and response tools (risk profiling, risk modelling, contingency planning) combined with adapted funding options, to swiftly contain and stop the spread of disease outbreaks.” The statement further said.
The MOU will initially input the expertise and models ARC and IP Dakar have developed as means to initially improve preparedness in West Africa.
“Under the MoU, the IP Dakar and its technical partners will support the continuous development of realistic outbreak response scenarios and spearhead the validation of national contingency plans in West African countries using the Risk Analytics and Disease Modelling tools as well as Contingency Planning Guidelines which ARC has developed and those of the IP Dakar to improve preparedness, planning and efficiency of response to epidemic prone diseases.” The ARC statement read.
Disaster preparedness is an imperative for development and curbing losses as arguably best learnt following COVID 19 with African Countries still left behind in dealing with their challenges.
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